Newsletter

Pipeline hearing draws energy rivals

Protestors gather at the Kansas Expocentre on Monday, where officials weighed in on the debate to allow a pipeline to carry crude across the state.

Gov. Sam Brownback countered environmentalists' objections Monday by endorsing completion of a pipeline capable of moving thick crude from western Canada to oil hubs in Texas on the Gulf Coast.

A section of TransCanada's underground pipeline running through Kansas was completed in February, but the U.S. Department of State is conducting public hearings in states in the path of a proposed expansion to determine whether extending the network would be in the national interest.

The open forum at the Kansas Expocentre attracted more than 200 people. It was a big draw for champions of alternative energy investment and labor union members hired to build the 1,700-mile, $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline.

"Kansas is unique among the states along the XL route in that our section of the pipeline is already in the ground and operational," Brownback said. "Our state benefited greatly from the construction jobs related to this project and look forward to the potential of many more permanent jobs as the remainder of the pipeline is completed."

Brownback, a Topeka Republican, said delivery of crude to refineries in the United States promoted national security by reducing reliance on oil from less stable regions of the world.

Incentive to move ahead in Kansas with construction of the Keystone XL section was provided by passage of a 10-year local and state property tax break.

Rabbi Moti Rieber, speaking on behalf of the Kansas Interfaith Power & Light, led about 50 people in a rally calling attention to reasons the Obama administration should refuse to authorize a permit for Calgary-based TransCanada to ship 830,000 barrels each day of tar-sands oil crude through pipe in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Reiber told people at a rally organized by the National Wildlife Federation that the federal government shouldn’t place greater value on temporary construction jobs than the long-term health of a planet undergoing climate change due to burning of fossil fuels.

"We're here to stop the Keystone pipeline," he said outside the Expocentre. "I consider this project to be a direct threat to Kansas' environmental future. The Keystone XL pipeline represents not energy independence but a new dependence on an even dirtier environmentally devastating form of energy."

Public hearings are scheduled in states linked to the pipeline expansion proposal. On Monday, meetings were held by the State Department in Topeka and Port Arthur, Texas.

A final decision by the State Department on a permit required for a pipeline to cross the U.S.-Canada border is expected in December. The federal government released in August an assessment indicating the proposed pipeline would have "no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed pipeline corridor."

National environmental groups have challenged integrity of the environmental impact review, claiming State Department officials maintain unacceptably close relationships with TransCanada lobbyists.

Dozens of members of Laborers International Union of North America — many wearing bright orange shirts — expressed their support for the project inside the meeting hall in Topeka.

"This will create jobs," said Mitch Rowley, a Topeka member of the LIUNA-affiliated Laborers Local Union 1290.

He said 500 members of 1290 worked on the TransCanada pipeline section finished in Kansas.

Charlie Hunter, biology professor at Southwestern College in Winfield, said he was concerned more than 250 miles of the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer would be lined with new oil pipe.

The existing section of Keystone XL has sprouted a dozen leaks in the past year, Hunter said. A defender of the project said those leaks were in above-ground pumping stations, not from underground pipe.

Jim Krause, TransCanada's director of field operations for the Keystone project, said in testimony the company was committed to a development protective of the environment and supportive of the nation's economy.

"We will build and operate the pipeline safely," Krause said.

In addition to Brownback, the Republican leaders of the Kansas House and Kansas Senate endorsed the project.

House Speaker Mike O'Neal, R-Hutchinson, said the project would create thousands of "high-quality domestic manufacturing and construction jobs."

Proximity of Canada as a crude oil trade partner and the security provided by such a business relationship can’t be ignored, said Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton.

"We cannot risk the integrity of our economy," Morris said. "The closer to home we can acquire our energy resources the better."

TransCanada applied for the pipeline permit in September 2008. After completion of the environmental impact statement, the State Department launched a broader review of economic, energy and foreign policy factors of consequence to expansion of the oil pipeline system.

Under the plan outlined by TransCanada, about 850 miles of new pipe would be installed from the U.S. border in Morgan, Mont., across western South Dakota and to Steele City, Neb. It would connect to recently completed pipe in Kansas that extends to Cushing, Okla. An additional 480 miles of new pipe would be built to link Cushing to Port Arthur, Texas. A 50-mile spur would carry crude to Houston.